Philadelphia Eagles Week 2 Stock Report
The Philadelphia Eagles may have lost their season opener to the Atlanta Falcons, but it wasn't as bad as it might have seemed. The Eagles got off to flat start, but by the end, they were firing on all cylinders both offensively and defensively, and the comeback just fell short.
That's notable because there were a lot of positives to take away from the game.
So as we go over this week's Eagles stock report, keep in mind that even the guys who performed poorly are victims of a small sample size.
Some players' stocks are through the roof right now. The ones who have fallen still have plenty of time to turn their fortunes around. That opportunity will come on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, division rivals grateful to be sitting on a 1-0 record.
These are the players the NFC East rivals will have to watch out for, as well as the players who need to deliver a better showing in order for the Eagles to make it back to .500 this week.
Stock Up: Sam Bradford
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Yes, Sam Bradford's first half against the Falcons was a huge letdown in lieu of all the momentum he built over the summer. But when the sixth-year veteran came out of the locker room for the second half, he lived up to the hype.
Bradford completed 84 percent of passes for 8.8 yards per attempt in the third and fourth quarters, moving the Eagles offense up and down the field with ease. The only possessions that didn't end with points could not be pinned on the quarterback—a failed run on 3rd-and-1 resulting in a missed field goal and a dropped pass that was intercepted.
Now that he's shaken off the rust after not playing in a meaningful NFL game for nearly two years, there's no reason to believe Bradford will start off slowly against the Cowboys in Week 2.
Stock Down: Byron Maxwell
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To be fair, Julio Jones might be the most unstoppable receiver in the NFL right now. Roddy White is a four-time Pro Bowl wideout. And given the Eagles' lack of a pass rush in the face of Atlanta's max-protection packages, any defensive back is going to struggle to cover those two—let alone with Matt Ryan under center.
Regardless, there isn't any way to look at Byron Maxwell's Eagles debut as anything less than a huge disappointment.
Fair or not, when the team awards a cornerback $25 million guaranteed in free agency, per Spotrac, expectations are that he can cover or at least limit the elite threats.
Maxwell was better in the second half once the Eagles started blitzing, and the better news is it will be a long time before he faces a receiving tandem nearly as dangerous as Atlanta's—if one exists. Still, while there's no reason to run the guy out of town based on one game, the fact of the matter is it was a dreadful performance.
Stock Up: Darren Sproles
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Darren Sproles defies space and time. The man is 32. He's 5'6", 190 pounds. Yet Sproles continues to be one of the most electric players in the NFL.
The Eagles running back/Swiss Army knife did serious damage to the Falcons defense on Monday. His five carries for 50 yards were essentially the only positives from the much-ballyhooed Philadelphia ground attack.
However, it was his work through the air that sent Sproles' stock soaring this week.
He added seven receptions for 76 yards, his best receiving game since Week 2 of last season. In 2014, the 11th-year veteran actually had his least prolific catching season since 2008, largely because Eagles head coach Chip Kelly didn't use him that way.
It appears that's primed to change this season.
Not only is Sproles a huge part of the Eagles' passing game, he could finish the season as one of Bradford's favorite targets—second only to wideout Jordan Matthews.
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Stock Down: Allen Barbre
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If Allen Barbre doesn't pan out at left guard, you can bet Kelly will never heard the end of it. The Eagles cut two-time Pro Bowl left guard Evan Mathis over a financial dispute and plugged the journeyman in his spot.
So far, the results have been less than great.
Barbre isn't solely to blame for the Eagles' inability to get the running game going against the Falcons, but he had his share of issues. And unlike left tackle Jason Peters, center Jason Kelce or right tackle Lane Johnson, he doesn't get a ton of leeway because there isn't a proven track record there.
Kelly's insistence that Barbre can be a starting offensive lineman in the NFL has been rightly met with skepticism. Monday was just his ninth start in nine years of hanging around the league.
He certainly deserves a shot to right the ship, so we shouldn't count him out just yet. One positive takeaway was that he seemed OK in pass protection. However, overall, some concern is fair.
Stock Up: Safeties
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What looked like the Eagles' biggest weakness at one point during the offseason is beginning to look like an area of strength. Even though Philadelphia's secondary got torched by the Falcons, that was mostly on the cornerbacks.
The safeties, on the other hand, were extremely opportunistic.
Walter Thurmond, who nailed down the starting job with a fantastic training camp, came away with an interception and returned it to Atlanta's 8-yard line to set up an Eagles score. Malcolm Jenkins, the lone returning starter in the secondary, racked up three pass breakups, two of which should've been interceptions.
One could get down on Jenkins for his inability to make those plays, but even being in position to get his hands on the ball was a good sign.
Even Chris Maragos, a special teams ace who came into the game on nickel packages, deserves a mention for holding his own out there. This unit was far from the Eagles' biggest problem in coverage on Monday.
Stock Down: Cody Parkey
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Kickers miss sometimes. They even go into slumps. It happens. Kelly is right not to push the panic button on Cody Parkey yet.
Key word: yet.
Parkey may not even be entirely to blame for missing a go-ahead 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of Monday's loss to the Falcons. The head coach sent the unit onto the field late, which might've resulted in the kick being rushed.
That kick may not have been enough to hold off Atlanta anyway, so it might be a bit much to say that cost the Eagles the game.
But the truth is Parkey's struggles date back to last year, when he missed two field goals in a loss to Washington, including a chip-shot 34-yarder. He also missed an extra point and a field goal in the preseason opener, and even looked a little shaky during training camp.
Parkey went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie last season and deserves a shot to snap out of it. You don't want to cut the guy over a couple of bad games and watch him go on to have a great career elsewhere.
With that said, the Eagles can ill afford to have this continue and therefore must monitor him closely from here.
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